If I Knew You and I Weren't Friends Anymore, It'd Break My Heart
by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: A series of one hundred one-shots pertaining to all of the different friendships in Kingdom Hearts. So sit down, grab something to drink, and enjoy these fluffy and lighthearted moments while we all wait for KHIII:) Chapter eight: Skuld is getting tired of seeing her dear friend injured because of the Foretellers all the time, and wants to protect them from now on. KHX spoilers.
1. Sora and Riku

**Chapter One**

 **Sora and Riku**

"And so you see," Sora said to Riku, as the two of them left the Queen's Court in Wonderland and instead moved to the Lotus Forest location–a certain purple cat appearing and wagging its striped tail, as it hovered over a massive tree trunk, while the two boys made their approach.

"If you eat the nut from the tree branch just there, it'll cause you to grow big again! Then, you can pick up that boulder, throw it into that pond, and cause the lily pads to spring up and become climbable!"

Riku frowned. There was a lot about this world that he wasn't liking. Sora was stretching his arms wide, with a smile on his face, and making it sound like it was the neatest thing ever, but Riku had his doubts.

For one thing, he was now looking at the disembodied head of a cat, was being swarmed by Yellow Operas, and he really had to question why one would have to grow tall again–afterhaving _just_ drunken some medicine to become little–in order to move forward.

None of these things were what Riku ended up objecting to, however. A sudden frightening thought overtaking him, Riku turned to his best friend and muttered, "Wait a minute… throwing a rock into water? Doesn't that sound a bit like Tidus and Wakka's crazy 'blitzball' idea, what with the throwing soccer balls around under water and stuff? Sora, I don't like this world. It's giving Tidus' crazy idea some actual basis."

Just as Riku said this, Sora's Keyblade appeared in his hand. But whether it was because his blade was reacting to his fear of the oncoming Large Bodies–or the idea of Tidus having reason to be even _more_ arrogant, were he to find out about this–Riku didn't know.

He was willing to bet it was the latter.

"So… Tidus never finds out about this. Deal, Riku?"

"Deal," the silver-haired teen agreed all too easily, as he shook Sora's hand and summoned Way to the Dawn to his side, preparing to go into battle.

There were just some things that were way easier to deal with, than Tidus' competitive attitude. And Riku found that trying to get to one of the Princesses he'd stupidly abducted during his first journey was one of those things.

 **Author's Note: Tidus is my favorite character in all of Final Fantasy, please don't misunderstand. I just thought I'd poke fun at him a bit here, is all.**

 **Anyway, I decided to try and bring the "100 Theme Challenge" thing back to life, by writing about different friendships in the KH series (though they can be seen as romance, I guess), and so far I'm really enjoying that.**

 **I'm hoping to keep more to the canon of KH, by exploring some light-hearted moments between our original characters, Disney, Final Fantasy, and TWEWY ones (and to kind of make up for my first 100 Theme Challenge being way too pairing oriented). Yeah…**

 **Though mostly I'm just doing this to keep my light burning strong until KHIII. LOL.**

 **Hope you all enjoyed!**


	2. Hayner and Olette

**Chapter Two**

 **Hayner and Olette**

 **(Based on how Kairi's kidnapping plays out in the manga.)**

She found him sitting alone on the Station Tower, looking pensive, as the red of the sun–looking far redder today for whatever reason, something that no one wanted to think about–came in to alight him with its glow.

For just a moment, Olette thought about leaving Hayner up there alone–to maybe go do homework, or something: another thing that she didn't want to do right now–because she didn't know if she could deal with him playing off that he wasn't upset about Kairi.

But he must have seen her, because before Olette could begin to shuffle back towards the latter, Hayner halted her. "Hey, Olette… This is kind of a weird question, but do you have a hair straightener?"

"I-" Olette hesitated. Not so much because she thought Hayner was trying to distract her, but rather because she'd never known him to care about appearances before: even if that jerk in the black cloak had done a real number on his hair.

But really, Olette thought there was a lot more to Hayner's question than what he was saying.

It was for that reason that she agreed, even with the possibility that he might end up making fun of her too girly room, because on a day like today… who would ever wanted to be alone?

"I actually do, Hayner. Why don't you come over, and I'll see if I can make your hair resemble less of a huge pile of ash."

…

Surprisingly, Hayner was pretty quiet on the walk to Olette's home. In fact, he was even quiet when she accidentally got a piece of his hair stuck in the straightener at her hose, his locks nearly starting to catch fire again, for which they'd both decided that maybe using a curler would be the best option, since his hair usually had some life in it to begin with?

It was when Olette was moving to get said curler–trying discreetly to hide all the pink materials she'd added to her room, as neither of them needed to feel even more sad about Kairi now–that Hayner grabbed onto her wrist and said tearfully, "Thanks… thanks for helping me, Olette. I know… I know most of the time you maybe would have left me up there, thinking that I'd ignore Kairi and just moan about summer vacation or something, but thanks… Thanks for being here for me, Olette."

And just like that, Olette found herself beginning to cry–something she probably needed to do right now, if she was being honest–as she patted Hayner on the shoulder some. "Of course, Hayner. Of course. We need each other right now. In fact, why don't we invite Pence over? I doubt he's faring any better than we are ourselves."

Hayner nodded, before he stood up and brought Olette into a hug–something that instantly succeeded in releasing some endorphins to make her feel better, and she promised herself that she'd _definitely_ fix Hayner's his hair up now, since he was being such a good friend to her.

"That's a great idea, Olette. And why don't we- why don't we begin looking for Kairi in our spare time? Pence could even look stuff up on his laptop to help us. And we can get you a even better baseball bat, so that if that monster shows up again, we can beat him up and demand that he take us to Kairi."

"And maybe we can get _you_ a key-shaped sword like Sora's, so that we can really make a dent in that guy next time," Olette laughed, pulling away from Hayner slightly and being able to smile just a little bit.

None of the Twilight Town trio were completely healed after Kairi's disappearance at this point, but with their new plan in mind to potentially find her, Olette couldn't help feeling that it was definitely a start.

 **Author's Note: These poor kids really don't get enough love. Hopefully they'll be in KHIII some to kind of make up for it.**

 **And once again, all of these prompts will be friendship, but if people want to look at certain ones as romance they can.**

 **Oh! And the title of this entire story is based on a line Shawn said to Topanga on Boy Meets World, because I couldn't think of anything else. LOL.**

 **Anyway, see you all next time!**


	3. Kairi and Naminé

**Chapter Three**

 **Kairi and Naminé**

Kairi hadn't thought about it at the time–when the stars had been falling onto her from overhead, pieces of Destiny Islands reforming, as it were–she'd been so focused on worrying about Sora and Riku, that she hadn't noticed at all how a lone piece of their world had fallen onto her cupped hands…

And as it had happened, the piece of debris had felt… cold.

Later, Kairi would find herself pondering over that. If the star was supposed to be a part of the earth, shouldn't it have been physically warm, just like the sand on the Island often was? Or, better yet: shouldn't it have been the same as the magma looming underneath their home?

Oh, the star had somewhat scorched Kairi _internally_ when it had fallen–helping to keep her soul alight, when it might elsewise have faltered–so much so that she'd become certain of Sora's feelings for her, as well as even more hopeful that he'd return to her.

But a piece of shimmering light being safe to the touch, yet fiery on the inside? It was nothing that Kairi had ever witnessed before, and even something that almost made her doubtful.

What other thing in the world could possibly be like that odd phenomenon, anyway?

When the redhead ended up meeting her Nobody, though–a girl who had been so cold and lifeless at first, but then just to be reborn as a fierce protector, and someone who stood up for what she believed in–Kairi could understand how ice could give way to fire completely.

And gosh, if Naminé wasn't one of the most beautiful people that Kairi had ever met because of it.

 **Author's Note: Don't worry, guys. Still keeping everything here platonic. And so when Kairi's thinking about Sora's "feelings" in this chappie, she's talking about his friendship with her and nothing else. The only reason I put that here was to stay true to the Japanese ending, where Kairi thinks something along the lines of, "Your feelings are reaching me, Sora." Yeah.**


	4. Ventus and Aqua

**Chapter Four**

 **Ventus and Aqua**

 **(Set before the events of BbS)**

Aqua frowned, thinking about Ventus, as she made her way towards the Forecourt where Terra was at.

You see? Ventus had finally woken up after his long coma, but he was still mostly unresponsive. He slept a majority of his days away, never talked, and only very rarely left his bed.

Aqua was truthfully glad about the strides he'd currently made—and honestly, she couldn't have been any more thankful for them—but it killed her to see the young boy still reduced to such a state.

Just what had he been through previously that would make him like this, Aqua wondered? If only- if only she could bear some of the burden for him, so that he'd maybe have less to worry about and then be able to enjoy life again.

So distracted was Aqua with these thoughts, that she didn't even realize that Terra—seeming overjoyed to finally have the chance to get the jump on her like this—had turned his Earthshaker into a mega cannon again, or that it was currently hovering over her, just waiting to strike.

Aqua noticed the shadow she was currently under soon enough, though. And calling three beams of light magic to her person, the mage cast said rainbow colored beams out for just a moment, before she momentarily halted them—forming her hand into a fist to do so—and then laid her fist flat and straight, so that the element could become one, and then completely destroy Terra's cannon where the white light met with it.

Terra, to say the least, wasn't too pleased with just how much damage that Aqua had done to his Keyblade, but she certainly was.

It even sort of gave her an idea for Ventus!

Jumping over one of the streams that dissected the land around her—as she'd feared ever since she was a child that there might be alligators down there, ready to much at her feet, maybe—she prepared to tell Terra just that.

…

Maybe… maybe Ventus just needed some incentive to get up, Aqua decided, as she carried the slumbering pre-teen atop her back, and set to moving his bed elsewhere?

Perhaps if he saw just how much fun she, Terra, and the Master had while training together, then the youth would want to join in on the activities, too?

Aqua sure hoped that that would be the case, anyway.

And her idea even seemed to be working just a bit, because one day when she came back to Ventus' room to check on him—after having just endured a terrible mental strength test, that had had her under a freezing cold waterfall, with nothing but a tank top and shorts on—he seemed to be looking out the window that she'd just pushed his bed closer to.

It wasn't everything she'd prayed before, but it was certainly a start.

Aqua grinned, and ruffled her junior's hair.

…

Such a hope wouldn't end up lasting, though. Many months later, there was still not much a change in Ventus at all. He looked out the window some, sure, but…

And though he even seemed to be getting more of his own things now—reaching to where they laid out on the floor in front of him and grabbing them, instead of expecting anyone else in the castle to attend him—Aqua had been counting on a better outcome.

One day, when she and Terra had been sitting out on the steps that led into their home—admiring the glistening chains that held the castle together—she told him just that. "Terra… I'm so sad about Ventus, aren't you? I'm afraid- I'm afraid he's never going to get better, or want to interact with the world again.

"I saw him standing up in his room the other day, and I thought that maybe he finally wanted to join us, but he only cared about standing in front of the furnace in his room, because it was cold in there. And I- Is it just that he can't feel the warmth and light coming from _us_? Or-"

Aqua could instantly tell that Terra was shocked by her words. Thankfully, he held back a gasp, but even she had to admit that she was surprised she was doubting not three, but four of the Keyblade's chosen.

But not as surprised as she was when Terra ended up putting an arm around her shoulder, and allowing her to rest her head against his own. "C'mon, Aqua. Don't be so doubtful all the time. I'll bet- I'll bet that Ventus is making leaps and bounds every day. You'll see. The light will never give up on him. He just has to have faith, and let go of his fears some."

As if to demonstrate that last point, Terra quickly ran back into the building—all the while that Aqua waited for him with a raised eyebrow—and when he came back, he was carrying a head of lettuce that he was ever so slightly nibbling on.

Aqua laughed. She knew well that Terra wasn't one to like vegetables in the slightest. He could barely even say the name right!

And that got her thinking… if Terra could conquer such a fear, to try and send that hint and good energy Ventus' way, couldn't she do the same thing?

Taking off her socks and her shoes with a deep breath, Aqua prepared to put her feet in the gurgling stream just a few steps away from her.

She was really half-expecting something to shoot out of the water and attack her as she did so, but that didn't end up happening.

Even more surprising was that Aqua found she _loved_ the feeling of the lily pads and little fishies brushing up against her ankles.

Water was her element, so why on earth had she ever been afraid of it?

Leaning her head back in bliss, and even taking the moment to splash Terra just once, Aqua let the rays of the sun soak her through; and as she did so, she tried to come up with some sort of magic where she could send the same sort of effect to Ventus.

Later, she would learn that becoming not at all craven had been the best thing she could've ever done, because Ventus had his own qualm:

One about monsters living under his bed, and that if he got out of the bed too close to his mattress, the hands would reach out for him and drag him under.

But seeing Aqua battle her similar idea about alligators, the boy was able to realize how ridiculous he was being, and to face his own demons in a million different ways.

When Aqua went into the blond's room that day, he was standing up and smiling at her.

And when Aqua ended up calling for Terra and her Master that time, it ended up meaning _everything_. "Terra, Master Eraqus! Come quickly! Ventus is awake, and he- he says he wants to train with us!"

It was the beginning of a truly wonderful friendship for the water, wind, and earth.

 **Author's Note: Inspired by my mother, who used to believe there was an alligator under her bed as a kid, and that if she didn't pretty much dive out of the thing, it would be able to grab her ankles and get her;)**

 **Also, I swear that later chapters of this will have more than just two people per update, but so far that just seems to be the way I'm writing these? LOL.**

 **In the novel, Terra can't say Ventus' name, and that's why he later shortens it to just "Ven", so going along with that idea—and how Goofy, with a similar problem, accidentally calls Ventus "Veggie" in the game—I thought it would be cool to give Terra a fear (or at least a huge dislike) for vegetables, and make that part of the reason he can't/doesn't want to say anything close sounding to that name. LOL.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed! Thank you for everything!**


	5. Roxas, Donald, and Goofy

**Roxas, Donald, and Goofy**

Roxas was sulking, his knees brought up to his chest—with his head slumped—just as he had done before having to face Xion, and right as Axel had faded away.

He supposed he really shouldn't have been. The fight with Xehanort was over, he'd been brought back to life as a Somebody himself, and even though he was currently sitting in Ansem's old office in Radiant Garden, the Restoration Committee had done a good job redesigning it so it didn't feel like the nightmarish Hollow Bastion, but…

Roxas was mildly annoyed that his former Other's best friends were acting like he, for whatever reason, could get Data Larxene to start acting better in Space Paranoids (long story on that one; don't even ask him what Leon and the crew had done, because he didn't entirely get it himself), because they both sported blond hair and bad attitudes.

…Well, Donald and Goofy hadn't exactly said that. But it was still the only thing at all that the skateboarder thought could possibly link him to that witch.

He was happy to help: don't get him wrong, but… Sometimes he was almost one hundred percent certain that the mage and knight looked at him and saw only their best friend, and not Roxas himself.

"Did'ja guys find anymore manila envelopes talkin' about the computer's programs?" Roxas finally ventured, as he gave up on being offended and instead started focusing on getting done with this mission as soon as humanly possible.

"Well, that's the thing," Donald said with a tired look to his eyes, that gave Roxas the answer he needed right there. He held back a sigh. "In order to get her to work with the rest of the system, Cid says she needs to find a role that suits her… It's a whole lot of bologna to me. But she was a thunder user, right? What do you think about tying her to a virus that could wipe out an entire enemy computer's system, the way that she could easily wipe people out on the field?"

"I dunno about that…" Roxas stated, getting up from a couch in the back of the room and taking the file from Donald, as he tried to find any program they could tie Larxene to that would be better than what they'd first attempted with a Data Xion.

Since that first attempt had also resulted in Data Xion's death on the Grid, Roxas was having a real hard time now with not flashing back to Sora's memory of Rinzler reaching for his hand before dying, or his own memory of Xion turning to ice and fading away right before him.

"Your Data Xion… originally she was a Trojan Virus, right? Because… because you guys thought it suited her, because those things destroy everything they touch. Even themselves. Which sadly fit Xion's old story, 'cause she could take numerous people's memories and that even led to her having to sacrifice herself to stop it all, so… So I don't think something as simple as tying Larxene to any virus is gonna work."

Goofy scratched his ear, as he took the file on that particular virus from Roxas, to put in a trash bin, and began looking through a new one. "Ya sure are smart, Roxas! I whuddn't have never figured this stuff out! Ya sure are a computer expert!"

At that Roxas had to laugh, remembering how much he _wasn't_ that at all—DiZ's old PC certainly accounted for that—but he was trying his best.

It was either him, or bring Sora into this. And since Sora sometimes forgot simple instructions right after getting them, Roxas supposed he was the best man for the job.

Even if he didn't want to be doing Larxene any sort of solid at all.

"So, how many missions didja two have together?" Goofy asked casually, as he skimmed through the text of whatever he was reading. Roxas sort of doubted that he was really reading what was there at all, but instead maybe looking at different numbers listed on the thing? "Maybe we could tie Larxene's essence to something that way! The number of missions ya guys had together, matching the number one of these things comes up as, I mean!"

"Yeah!" Donald chirped! Discreetly trying to throw what he had been holding down onto the floor, so he'd have less to sort through than the rest of them.

Roxas was about to call him out on it—as he himself thought about heading to the computer room, hoping that some sort of Divine Intervention would give him the answer they were looking for there—but then just what Goofy had been getting at finally hit him.

"Oh. Sorry to disappoint, but I don't think sumthin' like that would work. Larxene and I never really interacted at all, so she definitely would never be bound by a number that has to do with me."

Donald and Goofy shared a quick look—what looked to be a guilty one, even—before Donald finally stomped his foot and said, "Wak! Sorry, Roxas! We just assumed that since she was number twelve, and you were number thirteen, that the Organization would've paired you two up! Sorry- sorry for the confusion! You can… you can go home, if ya wanna. But maybe you could tell us who Larxene would've been paired with most? Or maybe just send Naminé our way?"

Honestly? Roxas was touched. So… so these two hadn't been assuming bad things about him at all, but had actually been trying to make do with things they thought they knew about him and Organization XIII, after all.

Maybe… maybe they didn't see him as just a Sora clone.

Grinning now, and having a change of heart, Roxas came towards the two quickly and wrapped his arms around them in a way actually kind of reminiscent of Sora.

He could tell that they were shocked at first, but they quickly gave into the embrace. Donald's wing even patting Roxas on the face slightly.

"No thanks, you two. I think we've gotta pretty decent handle on everything here, don'chu think?"

Surprisingly, Goofy actually did one of his famous "Who-who-who!" laughs, and Donald shifted his weight from one foot to the other, seeming kind of bashful:

It gave Roxas the impression that maybe these two had been hoping to spend the day with him the whole time, and he was truthfully glad for it.

Except…

"But Donald, you are going to pick that paper off the floor and read it."

At Roxas' words, the new trio of friends simply looked at each other and laughed.

 **Author's Note: Inspired by Dakt from Tumblr's AU "Email My Heart", and also "That's Why" by Talitha Koum from fanfiction.**

 **"** **Email My Heart" is very similar to what I did here (it's what inspired most of this, really), and is about the Data characters from Coded (and some newly created ones) getting imported into Ansem's computer, with the Tron stuff, to also help out with the defense in Radiant Garden.**

 **And "That's Why" is a classic "Kingdom Hearts III story" (written right after KHII came out, and before Days). In that fic, there's a segment where the real Larxene is terrorizing Space Paranoids, and Roxas-having apparently spent a lot of time with her during his time with the Organization in this story; they were partners, even—is trying to get through to her and make her stop.**

 **Both of these things are amazing/high quality works of fiction, and I suggest you all check them out!**

 **This story wouldn't at all exist without them, I mean, so you won't regret it. I promise:)**

 **Edit: I also feel like this story is kind of the alternative to my "Ember Island" Sea Salt Trio/RokuNami fic. In that, Roxas is actually willing to give Larxene a second chance "after KHIII". Here… not so much. LOL.**


	6. Sora and Kairi

**Sora and Kairi**

Sora was trying to sleep on the shore of the Play Island again (trying be the operative word), when he heard a familiar set of steps heading his way.

Kairi.

During their last journey, Kairi had gotten a new set of clothes that fit against her better—so that her shirt didn't rustle in the wind, or against her bare midriff, the way it had when they were fourteen—but she'd refused to get a new pair of shoes.

The ones she wore now, as it were, were still much too big to her, and so her footwear made clomping noises, and that was the only thing that would alert anyone to her presence.

Still, Sora knew that it was her. And he expected her to start bellowing at him for taking a nap on the beach any second now.

He wasn't disappointed.

"Sora! Will you get up?! I need to talk to you!"

The redhead hadn't startled Sora awake this time, so he was able to get up gracefully—and see the look of astonishment on her face, when he did so—while he bowed slightly, still on his knees, and said, "At your service, Madame."

He knew he was just asking to get slapped for that one—like when Kairi had tried to smack him awake when he'd "still been dreaming" before—but he couldn't help himself.

Kairi didn't seem to have heard him, though. Instead, she seemed focused on looking out towards the horizon—and not for the first time, Sora wondered what she saw when she did that; the empty space she'd seen so long in waiting for him, when she'd longed for a gummi ship to appear in the sky?—and finally uttered, "You should eat more, Sora."

That got Sora's attention. And here Sora had thought that Kairi was going to chew him out for being a "lazy bum", and not for being too little of one.

Finally getting to his feet, Sora dusted the sand off his pants and asked the million-dollar question: "Huh? What's gotten into you, Kairi? I think I eat well enough, thank you very much. You don't have to wor-"

Except the lie he could hear in his own voice kept him from finishing that sentence.

When he'd first arrived at Hollow Bastion, and he'd felt Kairi's heart stirring within him (though he hadn't known it at the time), he'd dismissed Donald's claim that he was "just hungry" entirely, and didn't eat much of anything for days.

And then… When Donald and Goofy had been about to ask the Emperor for some food to eat, he'd turned that down to instead ask questions about Riku, hadn't he?

Even at the party that had been meant for him and Riku for passing the Mark of Mastery, he'd only had a little bit of tea there before going to thank the Spirits.

Maybe Kairi did have a point.

And the way that she was crossing her arms over her chest now, and gazing at him concernedly, Sora knew that she was realizing it, too.

The only thing he could say at all in his defense, for whatever reason, was: "During my stay at Castle Oblivion… Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, and I went to that one diner in Traverse Town. I was kinda hoping that the waiters would come out and sing happy birthday to us, and give us a cake, but… Heartless just ended up crashing the party instead. Hehe."

Kairi looked appalled. And quite frankly, Sora couldn't blame her. If the first thing he could think of about nourishment was trying to eat something in a _memory_ , then that didn't bode well for him at all.

"Sora, I was speaking to Jane recently. And don't you make that face at me. What I'm about to propose now has nothing to do with the gourd you had to fight at Deep Jungle.

" _Anyway_ , there were some good recipes that they came up with for cooking there. I actually learned some of them recently, and I could share some with you… If you'd like."

Sora was about to refuse Kairi, when they both ended up noting Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka running on the beach—which seemed far more fun to Sora at the moment—but realizing that he'd kept his friends from filling their stomachs too much, too, Sora thought that he might as well learn to make them something to try and make amends that way.

"Sounds good, Kairi. Where do you think we should start?"

…

Really, when Kairi had mentioned she'd learned to be a somewhat-chef from talking to the people of Deep Jungle, Sora had thought her food choices would be a bit more… imaginative.

And despite never wanting to see a gourd again in his life, Sora had actually been somewhat hoping for new and exciting from there:

As really only having the choice of that bar in Traverse Town during his adventure made him never want to eat baked potatoes ever again, after all.

But he supposed he should have realized it would be something simple—Jane and company _were_ in the jungle, after all—like roasting things over an open fire.

Kairi seemed to be trying to give her hot dogs a good char, but really Sora was more interested in the marshmallows.

He _was_ eating a few hamburgers for her, however.

Honestly, Sora actually found this all to be highly amusing:

He wouldn't tell Kairi this, of course, but he _had_ learned how to cook like this when he'd been away.

Sora could understand why Kairi didn't know about it, though. He hadn't until meeting Donald and Goofy, himself, because the wind and water from the Islands would usually wash such an attempt like this away.

Also, as Sora debated about eating a chestnut that Kairi had just toasted to perfection, he found himself realizing immediately that the Deep Jungle probably didn't have food like this at all.

But if Kairi had gotten the idea from them, he wasn't going to hold her accountable for not being a hundred percent like them, as she'd been hinting at before.

"What brought this on, Kairi?" Sora finally asked, leaning back on his hands, as he looked up at the warm sun above him.

Fortunately, it didn't look like rain was going to interrupt the bonding session between them anytime soon.

Kairi blushed, and Sora couldn't help but chuckle. He wondered if she was feeling guilty for all the times she'd acted like what he did was inferior, when really it was quite the tough work.

Throwing a pair of tongs at him (that he skillfully dodged), so that he wouldn't get too big a head, he presumed, Kairi finally explained herself. "Well… For one thing, I was in your heart during your first quest, remember? So I somewhat know how badly you took care of yourself then.

"But also… Whenever we were with Yen Sid recently, you would just disappear right after he gave you instruction, not even taking a moment to consider what was best for yourself. I was scared for you, Sora."

Sora grinned then, feeling touched to have a Princess of Heart in his life who tried so hard for him.

Leaning closer to Kairi, and wrapping a comforting hand around her shoulder—as he chose to make her a new promise—Sora said, "I guess… I guess I was just too worried about Roxas, Xion, Ventus, and even somewhat Naminé—who also had to be entangled from me—I couldn't stop to think about anything else.

"But now that that's over with, I promise that if I'm called again… I'll behave much better than that. You don't have to worry, Kairi. 'specially since you're going to be there with me now, to keep me in line."

Sora winked at her, and that seemed to sober Kairi up entirely.

She smiled, bumped her shoulder against his once, and then pushed him away slightly. "Yeah, okay. I get it. Now… give me some personal space, you dork."

Sora was only too happy to do just that, as it allowed him an opportunity to scarf down nothing but the marshmallows, while Kairi tried to straighten where he'd somewhat mussed her long hair.

A few minutes later, Kairi settled on a new question. "Am I really teaching you anything new here? Or is this stuff you already knew?"

The jig was up.

And Sora, not being able to lie, ended up telling her the biggest truth that he now knew. "You didn't really teach me anything new, to be honest. Except about these chestnuts! They're fantastic! I'm gonna have to share them with Donald and Goofy when I see them next! And Chip and Dale, too. They're going to love them! Thank you so much for that, Kairi."

Kairi rolled her eyes at the statement, but she did still kindly give Sora what he was looking for: "You're welcome, Sora."

And then she then moved to grab the tongs from where she'd thrown them at him, showing that he'd appeased her and she wouldn't be attacking him again any time soon, he thought.

Sora couldn't have been happier, as he watched a shooting star shoot across the night sky just then.

Unable to help himself, Sora squeezed the lucky charm that he had in his pocket, and looked at Kairi, remembering.

 **Author's Note: Inspired by this video on YouTube by Kingdom Hearts Union: "Landing In A Strange New World – KHU Deep Dive Stream Ep1 Part 4", because they zoomed in on a menu (that I had no idea was in Traverse Town at all), and it made me realize that that diner DOES have baked potatoes and stuff there. LOL.**

 **Also, as you guys can probably tell… I ship SoKai. So if there's any weirdness or OOC-ness here, it's probably because this was starting to turn romantic, and I quickly had to find a way to nip that in the bud to keep it all friendship.**

 **So, once again, I apologize if it's odd.**

 **But at the same time, I was really trying to keep this canon, and I hope you guys can tell.**

 **It pains me to say this, as a Kairi super fan and SoKai lover, but… We really don't know that much about Kairi, or how these two interact with each other at all.**

 **We don't see Kairi enough to really have a grasp on her, and I think Sora and Kairi have maybe had three whole conversations together in this entire franchise.**

 **So I'm largely basing this off the first game, and praying that it's accurate.**

 **Kairi being bossy, Sora and Kairi play bickering, and her being kindly concerned about him seems like them, right?**

 **And we definitely know that Sora not eating at all (that we see) during his quests in canon, so…**

 **Here's hoping this is good enough (at least until we hopefully see more of Kairi later on, and finally get a good handle on this all).**

 **Oh, and the thing about Sora going to the Traverse Town diner during CoM is based on the manga, of course!**

 **Thanks for reading, guys! Bye!**


	7. Lea and Xion

**Lea and Xion**

Xion and Lea were busy fighting an array of Heartless that had shown up in Port Royal.

She really didn't have much access to Sora's memories anymore, having become her own person now, but she seemed to recall this area being gimmicky, and having given him a lot of trouble in the past.

So Xion found that she wasn't even remotely surprised that the two of them had to stay on their toes here—and that at one point Lea ended up falling backwards over one of the lumps of treasure, and having to do a quick Light spell to ward off the pile of Rabid Dogs that had lunged for his heart in that moment.

Then, getting to his feet—and rubbing a streak of blood from his lips—Lea exclaimed, "This is for my best friend Roxas!" and leapt towards the boss that was controlling all their miniature enemies.

During the instance it had happened in, Xion hadn't been too puzzled by Lea's words, as she knew that she herself might yell something similar about Roxas or Lea both—even if they weren't with her in the moment that she screamed it.

And, perhaps, it was just an oversight that had kept the redhead from mentioning her own name during his battle cry, but…

After four or five missions together, with the same thing happening over and over again, Xion began to feel completely bummed by it.

She didn't get as depressed about it as she suspected that Naminé might have—if people were to treat her in such a way—but she did find herself going to Disney Town more often than not, and trying out new flavors of ice cream there to cheer herself up.

It was there that she ended up running in to Ventus one time… which was still kind of weird to do, since he looked so very much like her best friend, but the two of them were friendly enough with each other.

And so the two of them talked. And at first, it was about normal and casual things: the weather, Xion's missions, Ventus trying to finally achieve his dream of becoming a Keyblade Master…

Later on, Xion even ended up teasing Ven about his trying to eat an entire bowl of ice cream without even a spoon to help in the effort!

(And at Xion's ribbing, Ventus had looked so mystified, as if not understanding at all why Xion would construe what he was doing—or rather, _not_ doing—as something bad at all.)

But all too soon, Xion found herself spilling out her problems to Ventus, and she instantly felt awful for it.

In fact, she even shrank away from him then and felt too much like she had with Roxas, when she had decided that him and her weren't the same.

"I'm sorry for springing that on you, Ventus. You're probably thinking that I saw you as Roxas for a moment there, to have told you all of that."

To Xion's great surprise then, Ventus busted out laughing.

And suddenly feeling much better herself, Xion began licking up the rest of her own ice cream that had begun to melt when she wasn't paying attention to it.

"Actually, you remind me of myself a bit. Hehe. Back when I thought I didn't have any friends lookin' out for me, and I tried to somewhat replace them, I mean.

"If only I'd listened to what Aqua had to say back then, then maybe things would've ended up so differently…"

And the look that Ven wore on his face as he'd said that, was one of the utmost suffering that anyone could undergo in ten years.

Suddenly catching her breath, Xion began to move closer to Ventus atop the stage—so that she could offer him an encouraging hand on the shoulder, maybe—but then he was quickly talking again.

Though he did seem to be doing better now, Xion found herself cursing the place she'd chosen to talk with him at. She didn't want him to be making a spectacle of himself, if he himself didn't want to be, after all.

"Talk to Lea, Xion. You might just find out this isn't as big a deal as you think it is. Right? After all, You've gotta try and think more positive!"

And though Xion didn't resolve to do that right away, she still found that she was suddenly feeling like a million munny, suddenly.

How could she not be, now that she was getting to look at the setting sun again, without it heralding the end of her existence?

…

The sixth time that Lea and Xion fought the good fight together (and how very glad Xion later would be that it wasn't the seventh time, when she finally brought the issue up), she found that she just couldn't let it go anymore.

…Not when Lea had actually used his chakrams to nearly finish off the Darkside that was currently wreaking havoc in the Kingdom of Corona: something that he hadn't done in a long while.

"You caught what I said back there, huh?" Lea finally asked, scratching his ear nervously, as he tiredly fell onto his backside.

For just an instant, as Lea's sometimes venomous eyes locked onto Xion's own sapphire ones, she found herself wondering if he was going to lie to her.

But wisely seeming to realize that his less than truthful answers had caused them all troubles in the past, Lea threw his hands up into the air and answered, "Don't even think that my not talking about you in fights mean I care about you less than Roxas. Got it memorized, Xion?"

And here Lea held one finger up to Xion, to no doubt hint that he knew what she was going to say—that he needed to say that phrase of his less, as that was why everyone had had such a hard time calling him "Lea" now, because they'd memorized the name "Axel" too well!

Rolling her eyes at his message, but all in good fun, Xion signaled that Lea should continue on with his story.

"ANYWAY, as I was saying—before I was so rudely interrupted—you're a lot more forgiving than Roxas is, Xion. So what I've been doing has mainly been me trying to make amends to _him_ in some way, because…

"Because according to Sora, when Roxas challenged him to a fight at Memory's Skyscraper, it was because he was angry and couldn't understand why I'd sacrificed myself for the hero, but hadn't been able to do the same for him."

And it was beyond clear in the way that Lea was looking discreetly away now, that this truth about Roxas hurt him deeply—even if he was pretending that it didn't.

"Lea…" Xion found herself beginning uncertainly, as she also looked away from her friend—lest she embarrass him even more—and kicked at a stray strand of grass underneath her boot, as she tried to decide on the best possible thing that she could say in this situation.

"I think- I think you're holding onto a kind of hurt that's long been dead. I don't say that to diminish whatever you're dealing with now, but... Roxas and I are much the same."

And sometimes it was almost too painful to remember _just_ how similar the two of them were, Xion thought, as she remembered that those had been her last words to Roxas—that Roxas, Sora, and her were all the same, and because of that… At least _some_ memories of her and Roxas could still exist inside of him.

But deciding that she needed to let go of her own hurt, too, apparently, Xion strongly continued on—deciding that if she could save Lea from a certain burden now, then that was what she was going to do: "And if I can forgive you, then so can he.

"Besides. Roxas was helping his Other's best friends not so long ago. Lea, if he can do that, I think he clearly has enough room in his heart to forgive his best friend."

And before Xion had even finished her sentence, Lea had already shot to his feet and flicked her hair affectionately—much the way that Roxas himself had a few years ago.

"Hey!" Xion mockingly protested, rubbing her hand over the offended area. "Just what was that for, Lea?"

"Because you're a smart lady, Xion, and I think you might just be right," Lea replied, placing his hands on his hips, whilst he beamed up towards the warm sun, that was hiding behind a gathering of white clouds above them.

"And from now on, I'm going to make sure I say both you _and_ Roxas are my power. Heh. Do I sound like Sora yet?" Lea asked, turning back to Xion, as he smiled at her with thin lips, reminding her of the slasher smiles that he'd lost not so long ago.

And suddenly laughing hysterically at just how much Lea had changed (though it was a good thing, honestly), Xion found that it was all she could do to nod her head at the pyro's words, and to mentally promise herself that she was going to find Ventus and thank him for the much needed advice that he'd given her earlier.

Looking to where Rapunzel was now coming towards them, and to her tower—her green eyes searching their own orbs as kindly as Lea's had Xion's, back when she'd fainted in his arms a few times in the Organization—Xion finally found some of her own words again:

"Yes, that sounds great, Axel… And thank you."

 **Author's Note: Inspired by Paopumilkshake from Tumblr. She thinks that the reason Roxas says, "Tell me why… Why did he pick you?" to Sora in KHII, is because he's referring to Axel choosing to die for Sora, when he couldn't even do so for Roxas himself in Days.**

 **Which is an interesting idea, to be sure.**

 **Personally, I think it's a translation error—and that it's supposed to say, "Why did IT pick you?", referring to the Keyblade—but I thought it would be something fun to explore here.**

 **Oh, and Roxas "helping out his Other's friends" refers to when he was assisting Donald and Goofy a few chapters back.**

 **Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed! Thanks for reading!**


	8. Skuld and Player and Chirithy

**When the Stars Fall, I Won't Let Go**

Skuld was getting tired of watching her new, dear friend being injured all of the time because of the Foretellers.

First the strong wielder had fought Vulpes—err, Master Ava, if Chirithy's name for that particular apprentice was right—and then the fox girl had had to be fought once again (though that time she had been in disguise), and even now Aced had raised his Keyblade against the child.

Sitting down in a chair at her best friend's house, as they rested, Skuld couldn't help but to sigh and to bury her face into her hands.

How had things managed to get so badly so quickly? There was even a chance that the unconscious person might never wake up now!

If they were to die… Would they somehow become Unchained like Ephemera was, and get to be a Dandelion faster?

It was a thought that really made little sense at all, with absolutely no credence to it, but it was a happier one all the same.

And Skuld very much needed to be uplifted right now.

"Is your human okay?" Skuld whispered, so as not to wake up her companion, when the question and silence ended up being too much for her. "If you're both going to die, Chirithy… please tell me that now."

Chirithy, padding over to Skuld then, gave her a very inquisitive look, and she had absolutely no idea why.

A shooting star was descending outside the window now, Skuld to see, and she had to wonder if that was the reason for Chirithy's reaction.

Falling stars had never seemed to be a good thing to Skuld and maybe Chirithy felt the same exact way:

Maybe it was heralding the end of the world, and Chirithy was just as upset about it as Vulpes and all the Dandelions were.

Jumping up into Skuld's lap, Chirithy instantly shook his head in the negative and gave Skuld the answer she'd been hoping for:

"Kiddo's going to be just fine, Skuld. Trust me. Our friend just needs a little rest, is all. Master Aced certainly didn't pull any punches—err, Keyblade strikes—when he fought this time."

It was really a terrible joke that the Spirit had just tried to make, but Skuld found herself laughing at it all the same. And how very much she needed that.

"Keyblade strikes instead of punches"… maybe it _was_ funny.

Skuld was really starting to like her best friend's Chirithy: he was just so caring and selfless, and seemed to always want to try and make better of a terrible situation.

Skuld missed her own Chirithy—who never went outside with her anymore, as he thought the rising conflicts might make him succumb to the darkness in his own heart—but she couldn't blame him for keeping his distance lately.

"I'm afraid, though," Skuld admitted, surprising even herself as she said it.

Almost wishing to take the words back, the Dandelion shrunk back in the wooden chair some—towards the blue shadows of the room, so Chirithy could see her expression less—but as the Dream Eater was currently sitting on her lap, wherever she went he was right there with her.

And so it had been foolish, then, to even try and sweep her admission under the rug.

It would probably just be best to finish her sentence, then, Skuld thought. She owed this Chirithy for trying to protect her from Master Ira—Ava—anyway, didn't she?

"I'm afraid that since I wasn't able to catch the dear as easily this time, there might be a hemorrhage on-"

"On the kiddo's head, from where you weren't able to cushion it this time?" Chirithy correctly guessed the end of Skuld's question, while he straightened his cape that had been hitting him in his face some. "I wouldn't worry too much, Skuld. Like I said: Lord Aced's attacks do much more damage than the other Foretellers', but at the same time I know the amazing ace that I taught."

At that, Skuld laughed cheerfully.

Good. Her friend deserved all the compliments that were possible. Skuld wanted at least one of her comrades to know just how memorable they were, after all. She'd never gotten the chance to tell Ephemera that.

And now, even though she also was going to the Unchained realm now and again, Skuld still didn't even see him; he was running too many errands for the missing Ava.

Summoning Starlight to her hand, so that she could at least give off the illusion that she was doing _something_ useful, Skuld found that she was about to tell Chirithy that she thought the Dandelions were _all_ suffering from brain hemorrhages (because why else should they lose morale and faith so easily?), but she was interrupted by Chirithy plopping down and heading back over to the window.

Oh? Did Chirithy think that the shorty was going to awaken so, and thus wanted to be the first thing they saw when they woke up? If that was the case, it was certainly cute.

Skuld dismissed her Keyblade, and looked directly Chirithy's way—trying to tell him just with her eyes that she was sorry for ever having doubted him.

And seeming to understand the sentiment that she was trying to get across, Chirithy bowed his head once, bashfully, before starting a new conversation.

"I wonder if they're okay?"

It took Skuld a moment to understand whom Chirithy was talking about: the two Keybladers from warring factions that had started this whole stupid mess to begin with.

Though Skuld harbored no ill-will towards them at all, and found that she really did want them to be okay, she also very much wanted to slap both of them upside the head, for having helped to get Aced all riled up.

Skuld didn't say this, however.

She didn't want Chirithy to worry that darkness was beginning to worry away at her heart when it wasn't, so instead she answered what was expected of her and not what she was feeling in that instance:

"Yeah, they pushed themselves, didn't they?"

"Thank you, Skuld."

That got the brunette's attention, as she jerked her head up. She thought that it was supposed to be her begging for Chirithy's forgiveness, not the other way around.

So to try and show Chirithy that, Skuld shook her head dismissively, in much the way that Chirithy himself just had.

"At any rate, the atmosphere gets worse every day." As it happened, Skuld now understood that that was what the two of them really should've been conversing about right now.

The three of them (and Ephemera) would hopefully be alright, but everyone else?

If things continued to escalate as they had been doing, Skuld could finally see why Lady Ava was so convinced that the eventual clash of wills would end in everyone's death.

It made Skuld sick just to think about it.

"I see little stand-offs everywhere."

"Yeah…" There was a certain color to Chirithy's voice that didn't sit well with Skuld as he'd muttered this. It was very gray sounding (and Skuld refused to think about that in terms of light and darkness), as if he'd pretty much already accepted the outcome for what it was.

How awful it must have been, Skuld realized then, to be bound to Keyblade wielders like this and to have so little free will of your own.

She had to wonder why the Dream Eaters had to be that way at all…

"How are the Masters?" Skuld ventured now, partially hoping that Chirithy would maybe answer the question she really wanted to know: the one about the Master of Masters who had empowered them and was behind everything.

Except that as she uttered this, she found that she really _was_ interested to see what was going on in the Foretellers' head.

Moving a strand of hair out of her face, Skuld thought that maybe if they could find a way to get all five of them to be friends again, the war and lack of trust wouldn't even be necessary.

Perhaps…

"Well, I suppose what happened just now tells us all we need to know…"

"Yeah…" Chirithy sure seemed to like that word a lot, Skuld noticed miserably. "They've already fallen apart. I don't know what happened, but they've all completely changed."

Well, there went all of Skuld's hope right there. She deflated some, and sat so that she was almost falling out of her seat.

It wasn't as though Skuld couldn't understand the Foretellers' issues:

When Ephemera had first told her to meet someone new, through that crazy dream he'd given her, she hadn't known what to make of it.

She hadn't understood if she should trust her now-best-friend, or if Ephemera had perhaps replaced her with this person.

So on an even bigger scale, _shouldn't_ such fears tear everyone apart?

But at the same time… the Masters were supposed to be better than the ordinary wielders, weren't they?

And yet… they weren't behaving that way at all!

"Yes… There really isn't any way to avoid a battle at this point, is there?"

 _I'll be fighting, too, but in those missions that Lady Ava instructed us to. So that we and this next world will have some sort of fighting chance._

"Ephemera."

Both Skuld and Chirithy nearly jumped twenty feet in the air, when hearing the inclusion of a third voice into their conversation.

Skuld went wide-eyed, and checked over her friend at once—very much so behaving like a mother hen would have, but by far Chirithy was much worse about it.

"Ah!" Chirithy exclaimed, jumping into the air once again in an excited motion.

Feeling the need to move herself, Skuld hopped down from the chair and looked at the door that led outside, thinking that maybe the good will of the Dandelions, Ephemera, and Master Ava had perhaps all culminated together to achieve this miracle. If that was the case, she was so very grateful for that.

"Oh, great! You're awake."

"Have you been able to see Ephemera?" Skuld's bestie asked, while continuing to lay street and to look up at the ceiling.

Apparently moving too much wasn't on the agenda yet, Skuld realized—her heart going out to her darling companion.

"…Not yet, but apparently he is doing things under the direction of Lady Ava _."_

 _I'd actually been hoping that you'd see him in your dream, so I could know he was okay. And if_ I _saw Ephemera again… Maybe I'd even ask him to come back here to be like Lady Ava for a while, since she's been missing for so long now and everyone around me is losing it because of that._

"I've been trying to persuade as many Keyblade wielders as I can from the final battle. But most people just aren't believing in the end of the world…" Skuld hung her head low at this depressing and far too true thought. "In fact, even the Dandelions are starting to get anxious without Lady Ava around, and morale has started to drop…"

Fortunately, there were a _few_ people in the Dandelions that seemed to think Skuld was a bit like Ava—and so they were following the advice that Vulpes had given them, that Skuld was now repeating for her—but those people were few and far between.

Most of the Dandelions actually seemed to be wary of Skuld now—probably because she was the newest of those chosen to venture to the outside world, and technically hadn't been tested by Ava to join like everybody else had been?

"What's this about Lady Ava?" Skuld's injured friend demanded now, their voice edging ever so slightly in either anger or sadness.

Truthfully, Skuld was glad when this most important of all people had spoken up when they had; she'd been getting far too lost in her own imaginings.

Even Chirithy had seemed to be negatively affected by Skuld's mood, as he grimaced some—and the two of them didn't even know each other that well!

"The truth is, Lady Ava's been missing lately…" Chirithy ended up carrying the torch for Skuld, as he turned away from both of them in some semblance of guilt, it seemed.

Skuld felt awful for the Spirit. It must have been a nightmare to know so much about the Foretellers, but to be forbidden to tell anyone about it.

At least he wasn't alone in carrying that burden anymore, though. Hadn't Skuld herself know things about Master Ava—as Chirithy himself had—that she'd also been reluctant to share?

She and Chirithy were very much the same, weren't they? Skuld understood then.

Perhaps the people who compared her so much to Ava should have seen her with her friend's Chirithy instead. Therein was where a real connection lied.

"But, maybe Lord Gula knows something. The two of them are friends, after all."

The bed creaking as the harmed Starlight bearer sat up was all Skuld could hear for a moment—because she was so scared that if the person jostled their body too much, they'd hurt themselves even further and so she focused on that—until the words, "Let's go ask Lord Gula," almost seemed to appear out of the ether.

The name "Gula" on that particular Lux collector's tongue had sounded foreign, but Skuld knew it would've been much the same for herself.

This was the first time she'd ever heard a Foreteller called that name. She wondered which one of the men it was…

But whoever it was, Skuld was already pleased with him for apparently being sensible—and not forgetting past friendships—and a possible aid to them, that was for sure!

"You have to rest more!" Chirithy urged, jumping onto the bed so violently, that Skuld almost thought he would continue to do so to knock his master back down again and again if he had to.

The non-Dandelion didn't let that deter them, though.

Instead, they were by Skuld's side like that. Skuld almost beamed in thinking what a good team they made together, but she did not.

She couldn't shake the idea that this quest was going to end terribly for her best friend, and that it would be her fault entirely.

"There's no time."

These words—spoken in a resigned, yet loud, tone—filled the entire air around the group.

They almost seemed to be oppressing both her and Chirithy to their will, it seemed, and Skuld found that she was powerless to fight the magic there: maybe even worse than Chirithy was.

"…You're right," she admitted reluctantly, and watched with tears threatening to spill from her eyes, as Chirithy protested—before being cut off with an "I'm fine, Chirithy" and a pat on the head.

"Okay…" Chirithy relented just as begrudgingly as Skuld herself had, and that was the exact reason for what she did next:

She picked Chirithy up into her arms, and whispered something to him that only he would hear. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to do better in being a protector this time. I won't let anything happen to the one you're linked to, I promise. Even if- even if that means _really_ becoming like Ava, and sacrificing myself for you guys, the way that she's preparing to fight in the Keyblade War to give us Dandelions a chance."

Since he had leapt out of her arms, and seemed about to protest this idea with mouth open wide, Skuld could tell that that hadn't done much to reassure Chirithy, either.

But when Skuld darted forward to grab onto her friend's hand as they were going out the door, it did.

Clearly Chirithy could tell that she _wasn't_ suicidal—and wouldn't throw her life away unless she had to, since she had so much to live for with her friends now.

And the three of them exited into the dawning sunlight together, unsure if it would bring them horror or wonderful memories, but knowing that no matter what happened… they'd face any threat together.

And hopefully with a certain flower boy, to boot.

 **Author's Note: This might be one of my favorite stories I've ever written, and I'm so glad that I get to give it to you for your birthday, Liz. You more than deserve my best work. Happy birthday, honey. –hugs-**

 **P.S. Everyone really should write some more X fanfiction, I think! The story's SO good, and it would give us so many new possibilities for KH fanfiction! IDK.**

 **Oh! And the title of this is inspired by a lyric in Ashes Remain's "Right Here" song=)**


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